THE

LINCOLN MEMORIAL

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"Lincoln's is a groiuiiig fame, not a fading fame. * * *
For Lincoln a -finished memorial is not a fit memorial."

From The Rkview of Reviews

WHAT SHALL THE LINCOLN
MEMORIAL BE ?

By JAMES T. McCLEARY

IT is hard to realize that it is now more than
one hundred years since Abraham Lincoln was
born. Men by no means old have seen him and
talked with him. We think of him as he appeared
when President. In the minds of the people he
remains a middle-aged man.

Lincoln's best memorial will always be the af-
fection of his countrymen. But it is customary
and proper for affection to express itself in tangible
form. As yet this nation has not thus expressed
its affection for Lincoln.

It is high time^ therefore, that careful consid-
eration be given to the question, What shall the
Lincoln Memorial be ?

As this is to be a national memorial, it may be
assumed that the American people will desire that
the memorial shall be connected with the nation's
capital.

What should be its character? It may not be
amiss to begin by agreeing on some kinds of me-
morial that should be excluded from consideration
as unsuited for a memorial to Abraham Lincoln.

First, then, the Lincoln Memorial should not
be a shaft of any kind. The American people
already have in their capital city the noblest me-
morial shaft ever erected by man, the Washing-

ton Monument. There it stands in simple majesty,
towering far above every other structure in the
city — a fit memorial to the exalted character of
him in whose honor it was erected.

WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
("There it stands in simple maiesty.")

It is unnecessary, and it would manifestly be
improper, to bring Washington and Lincoln into
contrast. Each was supremely great in his own
way and at his own time. Probably neither could
have taken the place or have done the work of the
other. But to propose a sliaft of any kind as the
Lincoln Memorial would inevitably result in the

making of comparisons and contrasts between these
two great Americans. So it may be concluded that
all memorials of the shaft type should be excluded
from consideration.

Second, the Lincoln Memorial should not be an
equestrian statue. Lincoln was not at his best
on a horse. Besides, we already have in the city
of Washington more than one-tenth of all the
equestrian statues in the entire world. Moreover,
a mere statue of any kind, equestrian or pedes-
trian, however mounted, would be wholly inade-
quate as an expression of the nation's regard for
Abraham Lincoln. So statues of all kinds, except

SIEGES-SAULE, BERLIN.

as features of some comprehensive design, may be
excluded from consideration.

Third, the Lincoln Memorial should probably
not be an arch. No visitor to Paris fails to take
a look at the Arc de Triomphe de I'Etoile. Erected
on a slight elevation, this splendid arch is the
center from which slope away in all directions
streets and avenues bordered bv trees and lined

with stately mansions. The Arc is thus the crown-
ing glory of a dozen of the most beautiful streets
of Paris. No one who has looked at this noble
arch from the Place de la Concorde up the broad
Avenue des Champs Elysees can ever forget the
vista. And when viewed at close range, the arch,
by its great size, its admirable proportions, and

the finiili at' its details^ is seen to be worthy of its
splendid setting.

Both in itself and its setting this greatest of all
arches is quite worthy of the purpose for which it
was designed. As its name indicates^ it is an arch
of triumph, erected to commemorate the victories
of the great Napoleon. Indeed, nearly all the
arches that have ever been erected in ancient or in
modern times, whether we regard the time-defying
arches of the old Roman Forum or the beautiful
but transient arch erected in New York in honor

ARC DE TRIOMPHE DE L ETOILE, PARIS.

("This grearest of all arches is worthy of the purpose

for which it was designed.")

of the return of Dewey from Manila Bay, have
been reared in commemoration of victories in war.
Admit that Lincoln was the commander-in-chief
of the largest aggregation of fighting men ever
under the direction of one man. Admit that the
men he led conquered in the strife. It yet re-
mains true that it is not alone, or chiefly, as the
head of a victorious army that Lincoln is or will
be remembered. While an arch, then, may be a
feature of the grand design of the Lincoln Me-
morial, the memorial cannot properly be restricted
to an arch, however imposing.

Should tlie memorial be a great university of
research ? Through the munificence of Andrew
Carnegie the American people already have at the
capital city the Carnegie Institution of Washing-
ton with a princely endowment. Though only re-
cently established, it gives jDromise of great use-
fulness.

Should the Lincoln ^Memorial take the form of
a building of some kind? An art gallery? Wo

already have in Washington the Corcoran Gallery
of Artj which is developing into an admirable in-
stitution of the kind. Moreover, Congress has
made provision for a National Gallery of Art in
connection with the National Museum. Besides,
what is there about an art gallery to suggest Lin-
coln ? How would such a memorial to Lincoln har-
monize with "the eternal fitness of things" ? Should
the memorial be a museum of some kind? We
already have the Smithsonian Institution and the
National IMuseum, each filling its own field well.
Should the memorial be something in the way of
a structure that could be called, say, a Temple of
Liberty? How should it be constructed? What
should it contain? How could it be made to have
the proper significance, aside from its name? It
is hard to see or say.

Some magnificent structures have been erected
as memorials — the national memorial to Victor
Emmanuel, the first king of United Italy, now be-
ing completed in Rome, for example. Its memorial
character is revealed by its imposing front. In-
cidentally, and as part of the memorial idea, the
structure is to house and protect a museum illus-
trative of the progress of Italy since unification.
It is a beautiful building, but we already have a
large number of handsome public buildings in
W^ashington, and in the natural course of events
we shall have many more. A building would
hardly be distinctive enough for our purpose.

Should the memorial take the form of a bridge,
say across the Potomac to connect Washington and
Arlington, with its National Cemeterj^? There is
something to be said for this suggestion. More
could be said in favor of this idea than for any
of the others that have been mentioned.

But to use a building or a bridge, a shaft or an
arch, or any other fixed and completed thing as
the memorial, would be to overlook the vital fact
about Abraham Lincoln's fame — namely, that his is
a growing fame, not a fading fame. His fame will
increase as the centuries roll. Hundreds of years
from now Lincoln will "loom large" in the world's
opinion, even larger than he does now. The gov-
erning thought in selecting his memorial, then, is
that for Lincoln a finished memorial is not a fit
memorial. As his fame is a living, growing one.

his memorial should be of such a character that
each generation can contribute something to its
improvement and embellishment. Generations yet
unborn will be grateful to us if we are considerate
enough to so plan this memorial as to afford them
opportunity to join hands with us who knew him
personally in doing honor to this unique being.

Can anything be devised that will meet all the
conditions of fitness as a memorial to Lincoln? To
be fitting, this memorial must recognize and sym-
bolize the essentials of Lincoln's life and fame. It
must have about it the Lincoln atmosphere. Noth-

THE KI-.LSuN^ MONUMENT, LONDON.

10

ing cold or austere or merel}' ornamental would
do as a memorial of him. His was a kindly and
useful and helpful life. The humblest soldier in
the army felt that if he could see Lincoln himself,
that strong and big-hearted man would listen sj^m-
pathetically to his troubles and "lend a hand" to
help him out of them. As the poet Markham has
beautifully said of Lincoln, he had "the loving
kindness of the wayside well." His shoulders were
bent in bearing the burdens of the nation. Lincoln
was born and reared in the country and always
retained something of its wholesome flavor. He
always felt himself one of "the common people."
His aim was to be of service to them.

Lincoln's character was unique; so should his
memorial be. His life was a glorification of the
lowly and the common ; so should his memorial be.

After spending several months in Europe in
1905, as the special representative of the Abraham
Lincoln Memorial Commission appointed by Con-
gress, in search of ideas for this national memorial,
after seeing the best memorial creations of many
countries^ — arches, shafts, bridges, buildings, not
to mention statues and other memorials — the writer
returned home profoundly impressed with the idea
that the finest memorial in Europe is something
which was not constructed with the idea of its be-
ing a monument, but for a wholly different pur-
pose, yet which fulfills most admirably the me-
morial purpose in that it perpetuates a name and
an act. That impressive memorial is the Appian
Way. Three hundred years before Christ, the Ro-
man Consul Appius Claudius built a great road
from Rome to Capua, which was afterward ex-
tended to Brindisi. This road, named after its
builder the Via Appia, or Appian Way, was cele-
brated for the beautiful monuments, the magnifi-
cent temples, and the sumptuous villas that arose
on either side of it. Cicero, Horace, and others
were in the habit of calling this the "Queen of
Roads."

The temples have fallen, the monuments have
been destro^^ed, the villas are in ruins ; but today,
twenty-two centuries after Appius Claudius built
it, the road is still in use, bearing the burdens of
commerce and the name of its founder. What a
memorial ! How worthv ! How endurinsr !

11

Appius Claudius was one of Rome's greatest
generals ; but how many now living can even name
one of his victories? He was a very wise ruler;
but how many now living can recount any of his civil
achievements ? He was one of Rome's foremost
writers ; but how many now living have ever read
one of his many books ? All of these things gave

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him temporary fame, but all failed to give him
permanent fame. But he built a great highway,
and who has not heard of the Appian Way?

While riding along the Appian Way the writer
remembered a suggestion that he had heard but
had not heeded much, that a great highway would
be the most suitable memorial to Lincoln. The

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mere the suggesticii has been thought over, how-
ever, llie more significant and valuable it has be-
come.

From the White House to Gettysburg Abraham
Lincoln journeyed to deliver a speech which will
be recited hy school boys a thousand years from
now, and which will stand as a classic as long as
the English language is spoken. A broad and
splendid highway, the best in the world, from the
grounds of the White House to the battlefield of
Gettysburg, to be called "The Lincoln Road" or
"The Lincoln W^ay," will, in the judgment of the
writer, stand the test as the most appropriate me-
morial that could be constructed to show our re-
spect and affection for Abraham Lincoln.

Gettysburg is itself a memorial, eloquent of
things done and of things said. Here was fought
the most important battle of the greatest of wars.
Here was exhibited valor unsurpassed in the annals
of military prowess. The men who wore the blue
and the men who wore the gray, their descendants
and their country-men, can all properly exult as
Americans in the valiant deeds that were here
performed. Plere, too, was pronounced Lincoln's
matchless speech, which "crystallized the spirit of
the Republic into a paragraph."

The battlefield of Gettysburg is only in very
small part a cemetery. In the main it is a mag-
nificent park, on the adornment of which over seven
millions of dollars have been expended — "and the
end is not yet." No one who has not seen this
most richly endowed place can have any idea how
wonderfully interesting and attractive it is. It
is by far the finest battlefield-park in the world.

Though money has thus been generously ex-
pended in beautifying the battlefield of Gettys-
burg and in suitably marking its scenes of heroic
deeds, it is so inaccessible that comparatively few
people are able to visit it. Of all the hosts of
travelers of this and other countries who visit
Washington every year, not one in ten thousand
ever gets to Gettysburg, though nearly all of them
would like to visit this historic field.

Gettysburg lies almost due north of Washing-
ton and about seventy-two miles away, as this road
would run. What a fitting memorial to Lincoln
would be a noble highway, a splendid boulevard,
from the White House to Gettysburg, from the

13

house wliere his record for statesmanship was
achieved to the spot where he struck the highest
note of human eloquence ! The seventy-two miles
would give sufficient length to the highway to jus-
tify its use as a national memorial. The country
to be traversed offers no special engineering diffi-
culties. It is just about sufficiently rolling to afford

fine landscape effects and to furnish opportunity
for a Iiandsome bridge here and there. The width
of the road should comport with its memorial char-
acter. Let us say tentatively that the width should
be 200 feet.

As a suggestion, the following plan for "The
Lincoln Road" is submitted :

14

Down the middle of the road let there be a
greensward forty or fifty feet wide, a well-kept
lawn resembling a beautiful carpet of velvet. To
lend variety to this central line of beauty, here
and there flower gardens and other decorative

features could be introduced. At intervals could
be erected fountains and other monumental em-
bellishments that might be appro23riate.

On each side of this central line of beauty let
there be a smooth roadwa}- forty or fiftv feet wide,
constructed according to the highest engineering
standard of "good roads." One of these roadways
may be reserved for swift-moving vehicles like
automobiles, and the other for slow-moving vehicles
like carriages and wagons.

Outside of these driveways could be double-
tracked electric railways, occupying a width of
twent}^ feet each and separated from the drive-
ways by hedges. One of these railways could be
for express trains of high speed and stopping only
at intervals of ten or fifteen miles ; the other could
be for local trains moving less rapidly and stop-
ping at short intervals.

Bordering "The Lincoln Road" on each side
there should be rows of stately trees, the rows
broken at points where could be obtained fine views
of mountain or valley or river.

In order that "The Lincoln Way" may be built
with certainty and without delay, it should be con-
structed under the direction of a national commis-

15

sion and should be paid for out of the national
treasury. But full opportunity should then be
given to the individual States to express their re-
gard for Lincoln. To each State in the Union may
be allotted a portion of "The Lincoln Way" to be
embellished in accordance with its taste and means,
subject to the approval of the national commission.

Other spaces could be allotted for embellishment
to national patriotic societies. Opportunities
should be afforded to succeeding generations to
add something to beauty of "The Lincoln Way."
So long as patriotism glows in the hearts of the
American people, it will be for them a labor of
love to add from time to time to this expression of

16

national affection, keeping "The Lincoln Way"
at the forefront as the best and most attractive
highway in the entire world.

Having in mind the possibilities of electrical
illumination, the beauty of this boulevard when
lit up at night may be left to the imagination.

What is really proposed is not so much a per-
petuation of the fame of Abraham Lincoln, which
is already secure, as an appropriate expression of
our appreciation of him. It is of the essence of
tliis memorial that it be a living and growing me-
morial, instinct with the spirit of him whom it is
to commemorate. That there will be a maintenance
cost is in harmon}^ with the governing idea. And
it would be entirely fitting that this cost of main-
tenance should be borne out of the national treas-
ury. But it is the opinion of experts who have
been consulted that, in view of the hundreds of
thousands of tourists Avho may be expected to make
the trip from Washington to Gettysburg yearly,,
the road can be made largelj^, if not wholly, self-
sustaining. If, when the roadway is being con-
structed, the tracks for the electric lines be laid
as part of the general construction, it is believed
that the use of these tracks can be leased for a
considerable sum of money annually to an operat-
ing company which would furnish its own rolling
stock. This arrangement, while furnishing trans-
portation at rates within the reach of every one,^
would provide from a proper source — the actual
users of the road — income for its maintenance.

Lincoln's fame is inseparably connected with
the preservation of the Union of the American
States. This road would cross the Mason and
Dixon line, formerly the dividing line between the
North and the South. The road would, therefore^
serve as a wedding ring for the sections once tem-
porarily dissevered — as a symbol of the Union ta
which Lincoln dedicated his life.

Imagine a two-hours' ride in the morning over
that magnificent road from Washington to Gettys-
burg, through beautiful Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania, with the Blue Ridge Mountains in sight
part of the way. Imagine even six to eight hours
spent at the world-renowned battlefield-park, see-
ing Round Top and Little Round Top, Seminary-
Ridge and its famous Theological Seminary, Cem-
etery Hill and Gulp's Hill, the Chambersburg Pike

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and llie Enimetsburg Ror.d^ the Fcach Orchard,
the Wheat Field and Devil's Den, "High Tide at
Gettysburg," and other noted spots^ traversing the
ground where the First Minnesota won eternal
fame, and following the sweep of Pickett's won-
drous charge. Imagine the visit to Gettysburg
ended by standing for a time reverently where
Lincoln delivered his immortal sj^eech, at the "final
resting-place for those who here gave their lives

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BAVARIA, MUXiCH.

that the nation might live," and the day closed by
the return trip to Washington in the evening.
What a never-to-be-forgotten day that would be !
Imagine such a trip being taken by hundreds of
thousands of Americans every year ! Can anj'^ one
measure the mental and moral uplift, the exalta-
tion of spirit, the deepening and strengthening of
patriotic sentiment and devotion to public duty
that would result? Would not the inspiration thus
secured render it more certain that "government
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth"?

If it were possible to consult Abraham Lincoln
himself as to the character of memorial that would
be most pleasing to him, can any one doubt what
his answer would be ?

The estimated cost of the Lincoln Memorial
Road, $3,000,000, will provide for a fitting
terminus on the battlefield of Gettysburg, and a
formal architectural development at the entrance
to the road, in the city of Washington, sufficiently
extensive and impressive to fully meet the views of
those who demand in the memorial something visi-
ble and tangible and substantial wholly within the
National Capital.

19

Jamks T. McClearv Charles J. Glidden' Robert A. C. Smith

of Minnesota of Massachusetts of New York

President Secretary Treasurer

Leslie T. McCleary. Executive Secretary
Wiisliinjjton. D. C.

The Lincoln

Memoriai> Road Association

0¥ America

The Lincoln IMemorial Road Association of
America has been formed by those who believe:

1 . That the time has arrived for the creation of
a National Memorial to Abraham Lincoln.

2. That the memorial should be jDaid for by the
United States Government which represents all
the i:)eople^ and not by a popular subscription
which would represent only some of the people.

3. That the Lincoln Memorial Road herein de-
scribed is the most appropriate form for a National
tribute of affection to America's best beloved son.

Membership in the Association is based on serv-
ice. There are no membership fees and no public
subscription is to be sought. It is the policy of the
Association to enroll as members only those who
have by personal effort advanced the cause for
which the Association has been formed.

Any person of good character who believes in
the objects of the Association may be enrolled as
a member upon written application to Mr. Leslie
T. McCleary, Executive Secretary, Washington,
D. C, provided only that the prospective member
agrees —

1. To strive in all honorable ways to create in
his community a public sentiment as nearly unani-
mous as possible for the immediate construction of
the Lincoln Memorial Road.

2. To write a personal letter to each of the
two United States Senators and the Representative
in Congress from his State and district, request-
ing them to work and vote for an appropriation by
Congress for the immediate construction of the
Lincoln INIemorial Road.

To save time, the blanks on the following pages
may be detached, filled out, and used in address-
ing the Senators, Representative in Congress and
the Executive Secretary of the Association.

20

Honorable

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

Dear Sir:

I favor the Lincoln Memorial Road from Wash-
ington to Gettysburg, with an appropriate archi-
tectural entrance in the City of Washington, as
the National Memorial to Abraham Lincoln and
hope that you can see your way clear to work and
vote for legislation providing for an appropria-
tion by Congress for the immediate construction
of this Memorial Highway.

Respectfully yours.

Name

P. O. or City

State

Street No

Date

Honorable

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

Dear Sir:

I favor the Lincoln Memorial Road from Wash-
ington to Gettysburg, with an appropriate archi-
tectural entrance in the City of Washington, as
the National Memorial to Abraham Lincoln and
hope that you can see your way clear to work and
vote for legislation providing for an appropriation
by Congress for the immediate construction of this
Memorial Highway.

Respectfully yours,

Name

P. O. or City

State

Street No. . .
Date

Honorable

House of Representatives , Washington, D. C.

Dear Sir:

I favor the Lincoln Memorial Road from Wash-
ington to Gettysburg, with an appropriate archi-
tectural entrance in the City of Washington, as
the National Memorial to Abraham Lincoln, and
hope you can see your way clear to work and vote
for legislation providing for an appropriation by
Congress for the immediate construction of this
Memorial Highway.

Respectfully yours,

Name

P. O. or City.

State

Street No. . . .
Date

Mr. Leslie T. McCleary,

Executive Secretary, Lincoln Memorial Road
Association of America, Washington, D. C.

Dear Sir:

Please enroll me as a member of the Lincoln
Memorial Road Association of America.

I have written to the two United States Senators
from my State and the Representative in Congress
from my Congressional District, urging them to
work and vote for an appropriation by Congress
for the immediate construction of the Lincoln Me-
morial Road and will endeavor to have a number
of my personal friends do the same.
Yours truly,

Name

P. O. or City

State

Street No

The name of my Representative in Congress is

The number of my Congressional District is....

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